


You're like the sun and the sun isn't supposed to be sad

by Eversincefiveboys



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 05:25:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2496062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eversincefiveboys/pseuds/Eversincefiveboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall has a nightmare and Liam rushes over in the middle of the night to comfort him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're like the sun and the sun isn't supposed to be sad

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt sent to me a long time ago on my tumblr (eversincefiveboys.tumblr.com), and because I'm a shit person it took me way too long to write it.

**You're like the sun and the sun isn't supposed to be sad.**  
  
It's one of those nights after tour where everything just seems horrible. It's raining outside, it's cold and Niall is all alone in his house. He hates being alone, he prefers to have some close friends around with whom he can have a laugh. Moments like this, he wishes the tour wasn't over and he was in a hotel room, close to his best friends who understands like no other how he feels. He sighs, pulls the blanket up to his face and closes his eyes. Because he is so tired, he falls asleep quicker than he had anticipated.

  
His dream isn't a quiet one. He's on stage, behind his friends, the crowd cheering loudly at them. The five of them start singing their song, and suddenly his four best friends move out of the way and there he is, exposed to the audience, singing his solo. It feels amazing to get all this attention, he can't believe people actually love hearing him sing like this. But then the cheering turns into shouting and booing.

Niall swallows and tries to continue his solo, but the tears start welling up in his eyes, his vision is going blurry. He tries to sing, but he hits a wrong note and the booing stops. It stops and turns into laughing. More than seventy thousand people are laughing at him, pointing out his mistake. He can't do it, he fails, he sucks, he doesn't belong in this band, he doesn't deserve to be famous. People laugh at him and then.. they start running. The so called fans start climbing over fences, no security in sight, and all start running and climbing towards the stage. Niall looks around but his four best friends have vanished, as if they were never their and it has always been Niall alone. Maybe it has, maybe he has just always imagined them. It won't make the situation a lot worse, will it? The people start reaching the stage and Niall tries to turn around and run. He can't. It is as if his feet are glued to the stage, no possible way out for him. He starts screaming, yelling at people that they have to stop. The fans approach him quickly and they are now so close that Niall can make out their faces.

Well, it's to say that that would be possible if they had any. The people coming towards him have no faces, they're screaming and laughing hysterically, but there is no mouth anywhere. He doesn't have time to wonder about where the voices are produced from, because a feeling of intense freight is grabbing him. He tries to movemovemove, but his feet aren't working, it's like his body is disconnected from his mind. He tries to tell the people to _please stop!_ But his voice has given up and there's no possible way for him to make any sound. He's stuck, people coming at him and he can't do anything. He's facing death and he can't even scream. To top it all, the stadium starts to shrink, the roof is so low it's just above his head and the walls are pushing so close that people are literally shoved his way. He doesn't know what to do. He stands there, crying and screaming inside his mind. He can't do anything, he is as powerless as a wing clipped bird trying to fly. The people without faces move closer to him, so close he can feel himself getting crushed. Slowly, then faster and faster he can feel the weight crushing on him, his throat being closed off, the lack of air making him panic. With one last, final push, he forces himself to scream.  
  
Yelling, Niall wakes up abruptly. For a second he is confused about where he is because he is supposed to be crushed to death, but then he realises it was a dream. He waits for the relief of it only being a dream to roll over him, but it doesn't come. He lies there, still in his bed, reliving the dream. The tears are rolling down his cheeks and when he looks around the room he thinks he can see the people with no faces. He tries to tell himself it was only a dream, but he can't stop shaking. After ten minutes he still hasn't calmed down and he knows there's but one thing he can do. He has had nightmares before, often concerning his claustrophobia, and often when he was on tour. Most of the time he would tell Liam about it, and Liam would tell him it was alright and Niall would feel better. He remembers clearly how Liam often said that Niall can _always_ call him, even in the middle of the night, if he needs him. Doubtfully, Niall looks at his phone charging on the bedside table. Will Liam mind?

He takes a breath and tries to stop his hands from shaking, but it's easier said than done because he can see the people coming at him from everywhere, and he feels the panic rise inside him. He tries speaking, he wants to make sure his voice isn't gone, and when - to his relief - he finds out it works perfectly, he calls Liam.  
The phone doesn't ring that long. Liam is a light sleeper and Niall probably woke him up after one ring.

"Niall?" Liam says in a sleepy-voice. "It's three a.m, what's wrong, why are you calling?"  
  
Niall tries to speak but the feeling of panic overwhelms him, as well as the feeling of being stupid for waking Liam up like this. All that comes out is a strangled sob, and Niall has never felt more ashamed of himself.  
"Niall! What's going on? Please talk to me, where are you?" Liam sounds awake now, scared and worried. Niall breathes in and out, and then says.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm just...it's nothing serious, I just- There were people and you were all gone and I was all alone and I couldn't move nor speak and then the stadium started getting smaller and I was enclosed again and people were all laughing at me because I couldn't sing and the people had no faces and... I was so scared, Liam."   
Niall starts crying halfway through his blur of words, and he hears Liam listening.  
  
"Ni; it was a dream, right? A nightmare?"  
  
"Yeah," Niall sobs and then he realises how stupid he sounds, how dumb he is. He's 21 years old and crying in his bedroom because he had a _bad dream_. He feels more embarrassed than ever before, what the hell will Liam think of him? Who even calls his best friend who he might or might not have feeling for in the middle of the night just to cry to them?  
  
"Hey, listen it's gonna be okay. Try to remember it's just a dream. I'll be there in ten," Liam says with a concerned, sweet voice. Niall first doesn't really comprehend what Liam says, but once he realises that Liam says he'll come over, a smile forms on his face.  
  
"Li, honestly, you don't have to come over. I don't want to trouble you. Really, go back to sleep," he says because he doesn't want to force his best friend into doing something he doesn't feel like doing.  
  
"No, you're obviously upset and when you're upset I don't want you to be alone. I don't want you to ever be alone, but I mean, definitely not right now. I'm up anyway, and who says I won't sleep as well at your place?" Niall hears Liam getting up during his speech and grabbing his keys.  
  
"Are you sure?" Niall asks, he can't really believe Liam wants to do this for him.  
  
"Yes, I wouldn't offer it if I didn't want to, believe me."  Niall hears Liam close his door and get in his car, and all the while he tries to not see the faceless human beings surrounding him.  
  
"Why can't I stop seeing them? Why are they still here?" Niall whispers more to himself than to Liam.  
  
"It's not real, it's just in your mind, remember that. You're still really scared, but it'll be over soon. I'm on my way."  
  
"Did you bring the spare key I gave you?" Niall asks because he really doesn't feel like getting out of his bed and to the living room, he's too scared there will be people trying to crush him to death. He knows there aren't, he knows it's just a dream, but he is scared and he feels the panic coming up inside him again.  
  
"Yes, still have it. Stay safe under your covers, I'll be there soon," Liam reassures.  
  
"Thanks Li," Niall smiles. All the while that Liam is driving to Niall, they stay connected. Liam tries to talk about other things to distract Niall and while Niall tries to focus on the things he says and on his voice; he still feels scared. He hates being alone, especially at night, and he feels it now more than ever. After a few more minutes, Niall hears Liam park his car and a half a minute later he hears the lock of his front door turn.  
Niall decides to finally sit up in bed when his bedroom door opens and Liam walks in, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. He goes to hug Niall immediately.  
  
"Hey, how're you holding up?" He says, standing next to the bed and bending his back so he can hug Niall closely.  
  
"Okay," Niall sniffs, still feeling a bit scared and wobbly. "But you can't hug like that, you must be hurting."  
Liam laughs and pulls his arms away. He stretches and Niall moves over in his bed. Liam sits next to Niall, pulling the covers over his legs. Then he wraps his arms around Niall again, this time a lot more comfortable than before. He presses a kiss in Niall's hair and Niall feels himself start to calm down a bit.  
  
"Remember it was just a dream. None of it was real. You know we would _never_ leave you alone on the stage like that, and the fans would never laugh at you. Because even if you would sing a wrong note – which you wouldn’t – it’d still be amazing and beautiful. And everyone know you’re only human, so it doesn’t matter that you make mistakes, everyone does. And everyone loves you too much to laugh at you, believe me, I know. Just breathe with me, okay, you'll feel a lot calmer," Liam instructs and Niall nods. They start breathing together and it's like the dream becomes a distant memory. He isn't scared anymore, he knows it wasn't real, he knows it was just a dream. And with Liam here, it all feels quite a bit over the top, his reaction. He could've just slept on, really.  
  
"Maybe my mind is creating scary dreams because I miss having you here with me," he says before he can think and then he feels how he's going red.  
  
"Maybe," Liam nods in all seriousness and brushes a hand against Niall's cheek. He presses another kiss in his hair. "You know you can always count on me, right? I'm here for you and you mean the world to me. I hate having you sad or scared because you're like the sun and the sun isn't supposed to be sad."  
Niall doesn't know what to say, he just smiles at Liam, very, very widely because he can't control that.  
Liam presses a kiss to the side of Niall's mouth.  
  
"See, that's more like it, little sunshine," he says, smiling too. Niall smiles and feels his stomach do flippy things because of Liam being there and Liam holding him and being so nice to him. And he knows it's not a game to either of them and he knows that this is what happiness feels like.  
He lays down in the bed, letting his head fall on the pillow while he reaches for the light and turns it off.  
  
"Let's go to sleep," he says and Liam does the same.  
When Liam is lying down Niall curls into him automatically, and Liam wraps his arms around him while pressing kisses in his hair and on his forehead.  
  
"Thank you, Li, for being here, for making me forget about the dream. For always being here. For being Liam," Niall says, searching for Liam's hand under the covers.  
  
"Anything for you, Niall. Anything," Liam replies and Niall finds his hand. He waves their fingers together and Niall thinks that maybe his mind really just created that dream to have Liam here. Maybe the dream was worth having if this is what he gets in return. And just before he falls asleep, he thinks about how he could get used to falling asleep this way every night.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Comments and/or Kudo's are very welcome :)
> 
> (I've got a lot more one shots one my tumblr, if you're interested. eversincefiveboys.tumblr.com)


End file.
